Portsmouth’s best restaurants 2026

Portsmouth’s best restaurants 2026: local favourites worth knowing

Portsmouth’s food scene is spread across Southsea, the seafront, the old waterfront and the city centre, with plenty of choice beyond the usual chain restaurants. For seafood with a view, The Briny remains a useful Southsea address. Set on Clarence Esplanade, it serves everything from oysters, crab and smoked salmon to South Coast hake, fish and chips and changing seafood-bar dishes. The menu also includes meat and vegetarian plates, while breakfast runs at weekends between October and May. Lunch and dinner are served from 12:00 to 21:00, and takeaway is available every day. Prices range from smaller plates such as heritage beetroots at £12 to larger dishes including pork cutlet at £32 and Hampshire venison loin at £36. It is a family-run restaurant, with the Solent visible from its seafront setting.

Southsea’s Elm Grove is one of the most useful areas for an informal meal. Huis, at number 62, combines Belgian cooking with a large beer list of around 100 bottles and draughts from Belgium and elsewhere. Expect mussels, beer-based dishes, meatballs, croques and waffles, with vegan and vegetarian choices available. The kitchen stays open until 22:00, while the bar runs later, including until 03:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. A few doors away, Umami Street Food at 167 Elm Grove covers a much broader range, from peri-peri chicken and Lebanese chicken bubble wraps to falafel, smashed burgers, birria tacos, jerk chicken and loaded udon noodles. It opens daily from 12:00 to 23:00, making it a straightforward option when different people want different things.

For Japanese food, Sakura Portsmouth on Albert Road serves sushi, ramen, teriyaki, hand rolls, stir-fries and tempura in a Tokyo-inspired setting. Nearby, Desi on Elm Grove focuses on Indian cooking, including kathi wraps, house curries and Desi shakes. Italian comfort food is represented by Circolo on Osborne Road, where pizzas and dishes such as arancini sit on a menu priced under £30. If you are after tapas, Sant Yago on Clarendon Road has an upstairs restaurant and basement bar, while Nicholson’s Tapas on Albert Road pairs Spanish small plates with sherry and cocktails.

There are also several places that make a meal part of a more specific outing. Pie & Vinyl on Castle Road combines a record shop with a café serving Buckwells and Pie Minister pies. Meaty options include Freeranger and Moo & Blue, while plant-based choices include An Idles Kebab and Mooless Moo; pies cost £6.50, with mash, gravy and other sides available separately. For fish and chips, Fisherman’s Kitchen on Clarendon Road uses completely gluten-free fryers and offers locally sourced potatoes where possible. Hake and chips cost £16.50, cod and chips £17.95, and large cod and chips £21.95. It opens from 11:30, with evening hours varying by day.

The wider city adds more variety. The Canteen at Point Battery & Barracks serves creative comfort food in a historic waterfront setting, while Abarbistro on White Hart Road offers gastropub cooking and a large garden. Southsea Deli on Elm Grove is suited to a casual stop for dishes, wine and sausage rolls, and Viet Quan Cafe on Landport Terrace serves home-style Vietnamese food. For Venezuelan street food, Arepa2Go on Victoria Road South specialises in arepas. Pacifico Southsea, in the former Kings Road bank building, offers Asian and Latin-inspired sharing dishes from Wednesday to Saturday from 17:00, with plates around £10 and desserts around £7. Together, these restaurants give Portsmouth a dining list that covers seafront seafood, international cooking, quick meals and relaxed places for a longer evening.